Nato Trump spends 5 % “very difficult” goal.

The Prime Minister in Greece told CNBC that it is difficult for NATO members to provide the defensive spending demands for US President Donald Trump.

The White House leader has often called on NATO countries to increase their security contribution to 5 % of their GDP – Kyriakos Mitsotakis questions can be fulfilled in the targeted Greece.

“Frankly, very difficult,” he said in an interview with Silvia Amaro from CNBC.Europe early editionFriday.

“If we were talking about hard defensive spending, I think 3.5 % may be a roof … What could be somewhat acceptable,” said Mitsotakis.

However, he pointed out that the 5 % mark can be a long -term target if the wider expenses such as critical infrastructure are under the umbrella of spending.

“Therefore, it really depends on how we are accountable.”

According to the NATO leader Mark Retti, reported Proposal NATO members of defensive spending should increase to 3.5 % of GDP, with an additional 1.5 % committing more security matters.

Many NATO countries have struggled historically to meet the goal of the 2 % alliance, and got Trump’s anger.

NATO Estimates The United States has proposed spent about 3.4 % of its gross domestic product on the defense in 2024, with only two other allies – Poland and Estonia – to allocate a greater share of their economic strength for security issues during this period.

Poland has already committed to increasing its defensive spending to a level of up to 5 % in the coming years, while other countries were more cautious, warning that such expenses may be difficult for them to manage.

German Foreign Minister Johan Wadil also last week Shown The country was supporting Trump’s goal. He said that the result of Root’s proposal is “in fact 5 %, which President Trump asks, that he believes it is necessary, and we are following it in this regard.”

A decision on the goals of the new defense spending can be taken at the next NATO summit in late June.

Speaking to CNBC, Mitsotakis said in Greece that Trump was right to claim more defense expenses from NATO allies.

“Donald Trump was right when he said in 2017 that you are not doing your fair share, because we did not do it,” he said. “We now understand that there is no free lunch and we cannot ride free.”

Greece itself spent approximately 3.1 % of GDP on the defense last year, NATO Estimates. Athens constantly exceeds the goal of 2 % for many years and has begun to increase defense expenditures in 2020 amid long -term tensions with her neighbor, Türkiye, on issues, including maritime borders.

“We spend more than 3 % for very specific reasons, and we were also calling for a major change in European bases to encourage us to be able to spend more,” Mitsotakis said, adding that there was some progress in this field.

For years, the financial rules of the European Union have bound the extent of the debt deficit and the budget that a member country can bear. Recently, the European Commission has provided Moves Towards mitigating financial restrictions as part of a broader safety package.

Talk to CNBC, Mitsotakis – Who has Previously said European Commission plans may be more ambitious – I noticed that it is also important to continue discussions on a possible European facility to support defensive spending.